Switch from 'new' Outlook (2023) to 'classic' outlook

Anonymous
2023-04-18T20:26:13+00:00

I need to go back to the Classic version because the 'new' Outlook lacks some features that I need for work.

This webpage https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/getting-started-with-the-new-outlook-for-windows-656bb8d9-5a60-49b2-a98b-ba7822bc7627 states "You can switch back whenever you want, just switch the toggle off in the new Outlook and it will automatically open the classic version."

There is no toggle. Is there any other way I can undo this update and go back to the previous version?

EDIT: Moved FROM Microsoft 365 Insider / Outlook / Windows TO Outlook / Outlook for Windows / For business.

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For home

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Anonymous
2023-04-19T15:15:49+00:00

Once flipped on, the toggle is irrelevant since the "old" version still exists. Just run it. You should still be able to find its shortcut in Start (and wherever else you might have had it before), but if not you will see outlook.exe in one of these places (may vary slightly depending on edition), so if necessary make a new shortcut:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16

or here:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16

The nice thing about the New Outlook is that it's not an either/or proposition (like New Teams is). You have both old and new. You can even run them concurrently.

But if running that actually runs New Outlook for you (some have reported that's the case), then either:

  1. Uninstall Outlook

or

  1. run Regedit.exe and go here (or the same with 15.0, if you don't have 16.0):

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Preferences

And in that you will see UseNewOutlook

Set it to 0, which means that running old Outlook actually runs it.

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-05-15T16:59:34+00:00

    I will defer to your knowledge on the matter! However, I have gone to Windows > Settings > Apps, and Outlook is not there (I have searched for the word "outlook" to make sure). Microsoft Office is there but it is not possible to modify this (clicking Modify only gives the option to Repair Office) or uninstall only the Outlook component.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-05-15T17:30:44+00:00

    Glad you searched, because it's not under Microsoft since it's just called Outlook. You're getting unluckier by the minute, since it would appear that your version of Windows (which might be 10--I'm on 11) somehow doesn't show it there.

    OK, so access it on the Start menu then and right-click that. Note that you will see your old Outlook there, too, but not that one. The one with the tiny "PRE" in the icon. It should have an Uninstall on a right-click, though again, maybe not on Win10, I can't easily test that.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-05-15T17:42:45+00:00

    I have Windows 10 Pro v 22H2.

    I have found Outlook on the Start menu. There is only one instance of Outlook and it does not have "pre" on it. I have also run a search for "outlook" in case another shortcut was hiding elsewhere but this is the only instance of it. It directs to C:\Users*MyName*\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs which in turn directs to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\OUTLOOK.EXE". I have right-clicked the exe file to see if there are previous versions to which I can revert but there are no previous versions.

    Is there metadata linked to the "pre" file that I could search for, to find the Outlook-pre file?

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-05-15T17:57:15+00:00

    Your system is making it seem like new Outlook isn't there anymore. Yet, you're saying that when you currently run Outlook, you definitely get the new one (which looks exactly like outlook.com except in a program)?

    Not sure if you have the venerable search program called Everything, but if not grab it here (portable version is fine): https://www.voidtools.com

    Run it, give it a minute to index, and then search for olk.exe, which is the name of New Outlook. If it doesn't find it, you don't have it. If it does find it, I know of another way to remove it.

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